29.6.14

London City Press26.11.1864

It would appear that the writer of the above report hadn't grasped the terminology of the game.

The Morning Post 24.11.1865

Charterhouse and Westminster were 2 of the 'public' schools in which Association Football was the winter game of choice. In fact the Association rules and modes of play owed much to the brands of football played at these schools before the 1863 rules were drafted. The first ever inter-school match under Association rules was between Charterhouse and Westminster.

Some 20 years after the above matches were played the 'old boys' of each school had formed prominent clubs which supplied England with a number of internationals, and in the case of Charterhouse,won the FA Cup in 1880-81.

Both schools followed rules that allowed passing forward. The Football Association adopted this in 1867 , a key move in the creation of the game that we have today, opening up the possibilities for strategic interpassing rather than the headlong rushes that resulted from a rule whereby, as in Rugby, anyone in front of the ball was 'off his side'.

As you would imagine, with the scholars of both institutions being drawn from the upper echelons of Victorian society, there are a number of noteworthy names in the team lists. In footballing terms there are Charles Nepean (aged 14) and Montague Muir Mackenzie (18), both of whom featured in the Alcock Internationals of 1870-72 (representing Scotland). Nepean was an FA Cup winner with Oxford University in 1874. Photographs of these young men are scarce, however, here is H.H Cameron (Charterhouse, 1864).

Born in 1852, he was the son of of the pioneering photographer Julia Margaret Cameron.

28.6.14

The Officers of The Royal Engineers, Chatham. A formidable outfit, early advocates of combination play, pioneers of the pyramid formation that dominated the game for 50 years.
In 1871-72 they were reckoned (according to contemporary reports) to have lost only 1 out of 20 games played (which would have been the FA Cup final), scoring 73 and conceding only 2. The central figure in this group is Francis Marindin.
The Royal Engineers team was made up of officers- in the 1872 and 1875 Cup Finals 2 Captains and 9 Lieutenants, 1874 a Major (Marindin) a Captain and 9 Lieutenants, 1878 11 Lieutenants.
Poignantly the Royal Engineers' last FA Cup campaign came in the watershed season of 1882-83 when the Cup went north for the first time.

27.6.14

A more dapper representation than we are used to seeing on cigarette cards and stickers. Here is a studio photograph of Yugoslavia goalkeeper Milovan Jakšić.Jakšić enjoys a legendary status- when one looks at his statistics this might seem strange... He played 3 World Cup matches and in one of those, a semi final, he conceded 6 goals. His fame had been cemented, however, in the group game against Brazil. It was after this match that the local press gave him the name El Grande Milovan.Not the tallest of keepers (1.76 m), Jakšić had great reflexes and was noted for his physical robustness.He played his club football for SK Soko (Belgrade).Incidentally, legend has it that one of Uruguay's 6 goals against Yugoslavia in the semi final was set up by a pass from behind the goal line by a policeman!

24.6.14

I have it on good authority that the above stamps were the first issued in the World to depict/ commemorate Association football. Uruguay's golden age, which culminated in their 1930 World Cup triumph, got underway with their successful 1924 Olympic campaign. Uruguay beat Yugoslavia (7-0), the United States (3-0), France (5-1), Netherlands (2-1) and Switzerland (3-0) to claim gold.

Fascist Italy probably had a very good postal service. These stamps were issued to commemorate the 1934 World Cup, which was, of course, won by the host nation.

23.6.14

Platko was born in Budapest. The peripatetic nature of his career led to him being known by 3 variants of his name: Ferenc Plattkó, Franz Platko Kopiletz or Francisco Platko. He began his professional career in 1917 with Vasas SC. He briefly joined WAC Vienna in 1920, then had spells with Hajduk Kula (Yugoslavia) and MTK (Budapest). He played 6 internationals for Hungary between 1917 and 1923.In 1922 Platko featured for MTK for in 2 0-0 draws against Barcelona. The Catalans were so impressed with his goalkeeping that they signed him.

Following the legendary Zamora, Platko was Barcelona's first choice goalkeeper from 1923 to 1930.

Platko's performance in the 1928 Copa del Rey final (a 3-1 victory over Real Sociedad) earned him the rare distinction for a goalkeeper of being immortalized in verse. Diving at the feet of a srtriker, Platko had sustained a head injury that required sutures. He finished the game swathed in bandages and ended the day in hospital. Poet Rafael Alberti was at the match. Impressed by the courage of Platko, the golden haired Hungarian bear, spilling his Hungarian blood for Barcelona in a performance that could never be forgotten (I'm paraphrasing), Alberti wrote Oda A Platko. The poem appeared in the newspaper La Voz de Cantabria (27.05.28).

21.6.14

The village of Glenbuck in the Ayrshire coalfield had a football team. Nothing unusual there-except that the club, representing a village with 1,200 inhabitants, produced somewhere in the region of 50 players who made the grade in senior football, including 30 who played league football in England and one for Fall River (USA).The club was formed in the late 1870's and was originally called Glenbuck Athletic. It was at the end of the 19th century that the name Cherrypickers was adopted (following a prankish reference to an army regiment known as the Cherrypickers.The Cherrypickers produced a number of Scottish internationals; William Muir (1907); Alec Brown (1902 -04); George Halley (1910); John Crosbie (1920 -22); Bob Shankly (1938).

Sandy Tait, FA Cup winner with Tottenham Hotspur was also a former Glenbuck player.

Bill Shankly was never destined to join the illustrious band of Cherrypicker alumni. The first year he would have been able to play for them, 1930/1, he was not considered good enough. This was no disgrace as they once again captured the Ayrshire Junior Challenge Cup. However, this victory was to be their last, the final pit had closed and the Cherrypickers disbanded as the men were forced to seek work in other areas. When the next season began, Shankly had no club to play for and was forced to begin his career playing right half for Cronberry Eglinton. Cronberry were a decent local side but this was merely a stepping-stone for the eighteen-year-old Bill Shankly for whom greater things waited around the corner.

20.6.14

The Alcock Testimonial was raised in 1881, in the pre professional era. There is no doubt that Alcock's singular devotion to the advancement of Association football laid the foundations for its becoming the national game.The gifts presented to Alcock as outlined above are considerable. 300 guineas compares favourably to, for example, the £92 paid by the 6-7000 crowd (well, the men anyway- ladies were admitted free) who watched that seasons' Staffordshire Cup Final between Walsall Swifts and Aston Villa...Four years later Jimmy Forrest (on £1 a week at Blackburn Rovers) became England's first professional internationalist. It was in July 1885 that strictly marshaled professionalism was legalised by the Football Association.The sub committee engaged to address the professional question stated:no player can be termed an amateur who receives any remuneration or consideration above his necessary hotel or travelling expenses. and that no professional should be allowed to serve on any Association Committees, or to represent his own or any other club at meetings of the Football Association, Alcock was the secretary of the Football Association at the time.

18.6.14

Foreigners who played international football for Argentina pre 1937:Héctor Henman (1906)Harold James Henman was born in Oxford England and moved to South Africa when he was a boy. In 1906 , having toured Argentina with a South Africa XI (playing in an unofficial international) he settled in the country, playing for Alumni before representing Argentina in a Copa Newton match v Uruguay. Leonel (Alfredo?) Peel YatesAll the reference sites tell us that Alfredo Peel Yates was born in England and represented Argentina 4 times in 1911. When I tried to find out a bit more about Peel Yates I found that he was referred to in Argentinian sources as either Leonel or Lionel Peel Yates. A history of AA Estudiantes De Río Cuarto Cordoba tells us that Peel Yates, ' a vigorous man, of medium height and enormous mustaches' had played for Alumni in 1911 and had become the first Englishman to represent Argentina. The same source states that in 1912 he joined Quilmes AC, with whom he won the national championship.An online history of Quilmes AC celebrating the centenary of this championship win lists Lionel Peel Yates as being one of 6 former Alumni players joining the club that season

I have also come across references to Leonel Peel Yates as having paid into a subscription that aided the introduction of Polo to Argentina.

Horacio Vignoles Born in Uruguay! Belgrano Athletic's Horacio Vignoles played for Argentina in a 2-1 win over the country of his birth on July 9 1913.

Zoilo Canavery (Caneveri)
Canavery played most of his football for Independiente, though he was at CARP when capped. He was the second Uruguayan to play for Argentina, playing on the right wing in a Copa Lipton match against Uruguay on August 15,1916.

Marius Hiller, also known as Eduardo Hiller, was born in Pforzheim. Hiller made his debut for Germany on 3 April 1910, and (at 17 years, 241 days) remains the youngest player to score an international goal for the Germans. In 1912 Hiller joined FC La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland) . In 1913 he emigrated to Argentina (due to his job) and played for All Boys and River Plate .On August 15, 1916 he made his debut for Argentina in a 3-1 victory over Uruguay, scoring on his international debut for a second time. His 2 international appearances for Argentina yielded 4 goals. In the 1917 season Hiller scored 52 goals in 39 games.

Renato CesariniA genuine oriundo! Cesarini was born in Italy, raised in Argentina. He played twice for Argentina before returning to Italy (signed by Juventus in 1929), where he gained a further 11 caps.

Pedro "Arico" SuárezArico was born in Gran Canaria. His family moved to Argentina when he was a baby. He enjoyed considerable success with Boca Juniors and was in the Argentina team for the 1930 World Cup final. He represented Argentina 12 times between 1930 and 1940.

Constantino Urbieta Sosa
Midfielder Sosa played 2 internationals for his native Paraguay in 1931. That year he left Nacional (Asuncion) to play his club football with Newell's Old Boys. He settled in Argentina, playing for a succession of clubs, and featured for Argentina in the 1934 World Cup .

Aarón Wergifker Born in São Paulo, "Brazuca" played in defence for River Plate, making more than 400 appearances. He represented Argentina 4 times (1934-36).

Manuel De Sáa 2 caps in 1935 for the Spanish born Vélez Sarsfield player.

16.6.14

When the Football League was founded in 1888 it is remarkable that, despite the ascendancy of Lancashire football, there was no side from Manchester itself in a suitably advanced state of development to be considered for inclusion in the venture. Newton Heath played in the Combination (1888–89) and the Alliance (3 seasons from 1889) before being elected to Division 1 of the Football League for the 1892-93 season. The club became a Limited Company (shares £1) in June 1892. Alf Albut became the first full time club secretary and a number of new signings were secured (including 8 Scotsmen). The Heathens first league fixture was away to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on September 3rd 1892. Rather inauspiciously the kick off was delayed until 4pm because Newton Heath arrived late. Within 10 minutes of the kick off they were 2 goals down. Southworth shot Rovers into the lead, the second goal, credited to Hall , came from a scrimmage. Rovers went 3 up before Donaldson pulled one back (histories credit Coupar with Newton Heath's first league goal, but contemporary newspaper reports identify Donaldson as the scorer). Coupar then added another from a scrimmage before half time.
The Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser reported a closely contested match: for three fourths of the game there was nothing to chose between the two teams- backwards and forwards the tussle went- both goals being visited in alternation.

Chippendale put Rovers 4-2 up before the prolific Farman brought the Heathens back to within 1 goal.
Incidentally, whereas green and gold are associated with Newton Heath, largely due to the

1992/93 revival kit , the first team colours in the 1892-93 season were red and white 'halves' (more correctly 'quarters').

Warner

Goal keeper: Jimmy
Warner

27 year old Warner, born in Lozells in Birmingham, had spent
the first 4 seasons of league football as Aston Villa’s keeper. The previous
April he had felt the wrath of Villa supporters after the FA Cup final defeat
to neighbours West Bromwich Albion. The windows of his pub (Old College Inn,
Spring Hill) had been smashed by angry fans. In 1892 Warner was also involved
in a scandal regarding an elopement with a woman (he was married at the time).

He had been an FA Cup winner with Villa in 1887.

His Newton Heath career was virtually ended by his failure
to turn up for an away match at Stoke in January 1893.

(1.77m 79.3 kg)

Clements

Right back: John
Clements

Clements, 24 , was born in Nottinghamshire and
had played 2 seasons of league football for Notts County.

Brown

Left back- James
Brown

I don’t know much about Brown. He only ever made 7 League
Appearances and was never on the winning side.

Perrins

Right half- George
Perrins

20 year old George Perrins was from Birmingham. Signed from
Birmingham St. George's He was to spend 4 seasons with Newton Heath.

Stewart

Centre half: Willie Stewart

22 year old Stewart was Scottish- a rangy 1.77m. He had played
for Newton Heath in the Alliance, mainly as an inside forward.

Erentz

Left half: Fred
Erentz

Another Scot, 22 yr old Erentz spent 10 seasons with Newton Heath,
making over 300 appearances. His last match was Newton Heath's last game before they
became Manchester United. Half Danish ,
he was signed from Our Boys (Dundee).

Farman

Outside right: Alf
Farman

Farman was signed from Bolton Wanderers in 1889. A native of
Birmingham he had been on the books of both Excelsior and Aston Villa. He scored 53 goals in 121 appearances for
Newton Heath.

13.6.14

Any discussion of the 'minnows' of international football will inevitably include Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy were relative early birds on the international scene, joining FIFA in 1910 and playing their first game in 1911. Before the outbreak of war in 1914 they played 3 matches, all against France.